1962 Pontiac Catalina paint project.

The car fell into my lap so it was a good. deal. After all of the engine and tranny issues, the car is starting to see some miles. So the car is growing on me. But I hate the color. Beige or taupe..EWW.. I started painting small things and just painted a motorcycle with single stage and it came out awesome!!! This will be my first car start to finish. I have done body work etc, before.

I cannot afford a complete down to bare metal restification. So I am going to for a scuff and shoot. The body work was in O.K. shape, but you can tell that it is not virgin.. My plan is to two tone it. White on top and blue on bottom with single stage.

Here he is. Mr. B. When I got him.



Here he is cleaned up. Like I said, O.K.. We put 2 seasons on this car with this color..





Follow along as I paint this land yacht!!!

 

Small garage

As you can see, my garage is small, so I am going to have to get creative with the paint technique!

 

Bubbles

Bottom of driver door had bubbles. Sanded to find a lot of BONDO!!! removed and cut out a new shape, welded in a patch and fiberglassed it. Sanded it smooth. Might have to apply a small layer of filler...

 

someone put a crappy plastic mirror on the driverside door. This would not allow the driver to use the vent window. I opted for peep mirrors. They look cooler and can allow the window to be used!@ Welded those holes and fiberglassed and sanded...the rest of this side is getting there..

 

Bondo!!!

WOW!!! This fender has some flipping filler!!!!! It has to be 1/4" thick!!! But like I said, this aint no 100 point car and I do not have the budget for a better fender. If I could even find one. Or pay a good metal guy to fix this one, so, if you can't beat them, add more BONDO!!! I should get a license plate that says BNDOBKT!!!








I still have to take the bumpers off and some front end and rear trim off. I will try to that done soon. I would like to have the whole car ready for a light coat of primer first, but I might have to do it in sides... I am going to be using a High Build or High Solids Urethane primer. Gonna use grey.

 

good start ,things to remember, devil is in the details, be patient, b/c c/c is a lot more forgiving than single stage and will last longer, have fun and pull the trigger

 

Cool project! Love the pics, I'll give you a preliminary rating in restoration class pending followup pics. So don't disappoint us! Or it'll be time! Good luck with the project.

 

looks like fun
what are ya spraying it with?...paint wise i mean?

 

Because I am not looking to spend a fortune I am shooting single stage Martin Senour Paint. Non metallic on roof not sure if it will be mettalic on sides and hood..

 

updates 6/13/2012

Passenger side, roof and hood are in MUCH better condition. Not much sanding at all. I did have to fix the rear door on the lower portion as it had some holes in it.

Hoping to finish sanding the beige and get the rest of the car into primer today!!!

 

Lookin' good

 

The front door locks will come out by prying out the keeper that is in the inside edge of the door. The wiper arms come off easy with a gentle prying up with a flat screwdriver blade at the tab at the bottom of the arm.
I would use a solid color if you want to save money, and not have a problem doing touch up if a panel doesn't come out the way you like it. Can't wait to see the finished product.

 

I started to take the interior apart to remove all of the door handles and the exterior trim. The reason they are left on is that some of the chrome is breaking when removing.

I have looked for replacements and the ones I have found are outrageous in cost and the not in the budget. The wipers are coming off. I have not gotten that close to priming the front.

Same with the interior. The wagon interior would have to be custom.. Also not in budget. SUX!! so that is why things are getting taped instead of the right way and removed.

My garage is not as big once you get this land yacht in there. So I have to paint in stages.

I have been floating around the idea of metallic. But I think the consensus is that I should stick with a solid color. It will be white roof and tailgate and blue sides and hood.

Some of the blues I am leaning to..

 

You are correct about the chrome being expensive, however, things like door handles and door locks come off easily. I just had the doors apart on my 1962 Chevy wagon for a repair, and I took the glass out just to get to the rubber along the outer window edge. It took me about 1/2 hour a door to take everything apart, and about an hour a door to put everything back in. Most of that time was refitting the glass. I wouldn't recommend your doing this unless you have experience, since getting the glass back in can be a pain. It is easy to remove the door handle and locks though. This will also allow you to clean up the inside of the door bottoms, and to treat them if rust is starting at the bottom. All too often people fix the rust on the outside, but fail to fix it on the inside, so the repair doesn't last very long. Covering the metal on the inside of the door with some paint can make the repair go a lot longer.
If you come across a parts wagon, I am looking for the chrome (stainless steel) that goes around the top of the doors and the rear side glass.
thanks

 

'63 Pontiac.....
Would this have been the original color of the wagon? I can see some of it peeking through in your sanded areas, and inside the cove along the sides.


My '64 Ventura was this color (before I stupidly put an Earl Scheib job on it..)
If I may offer a suggestion.....
Try to keep it original - maybe paint the cove inset along the side in a silver color to give it some pizazz.....